Video: Canadian Billionaire Investor Ned Goodman: The dollar is about to be dethroned as the world’s de facto currency

In a recent speech Canadian billionaire, President and CEO of US $ 9.6 billion Dundee Capital markets sees the end of the US dollar standard. He sees a period of that would be “very inflationary” and where “Things are likely to become quite ugly”.

He believes that there is an excellent chance the “US will soon be determined in a recession” which he believes is probably here

Through history political entities (kings emperors or elected parliamentarians etc..) have “used magic money to acquire things or wage wars. And it just doesn’t work”

So far we are having asset inflation. But eventually like Mr. Goodman, I share the view that we will transition to "stagflation".  The rest will rely on how the feedback loop mechanism between political actions and market responses and vice versa. (hat tip Zero hedge)

Video: How a Romanian Internet Campaign Undermined a UK Anti Immigration Propaganda

Cool stuff demonstrative of epic government blunder.

The British government launches a ridiculous discriminatory anti immigration campaign against Romanians and Bulgarians. In response, a Romanian company ingeniously used the internet to turn the tables on the UK government until the latter capitulates. Amusing

(hat tip Gary North) You tube GMP Bucharest link

Video: The Syrian War What You're Not Being Told

(hat tip Zero hedge)

Video: The great global warming swindle

Watch why environmentalism (the religion of misanthropists) is a huge swindle  (hat tip EPJ)

Ron Paul: Planned war against Syria is merely the next step to take on the Iranian government

In the halls of US congress in June 19th 2012, the great Ron Paul exposes on the motivations behind the planned attack on Syria 

Transcript from RonPaul.com

Plans, rumors, and war propaganda for attacking Syria and deposing Assad have been around for many months.

This past week however, it was reported that the Pentagon indeed has finalized plans to do just that. In my opinion, all the evidence to justify this attack is bogus. It is no more credible than the pretext given for the 2003 invasion of Iraq or the 2011 attack on Libya.

The total waste of those wars should cause us to pause before this all-out effort at occupation and regime change is initiated against Syria.

There are no national security concerns that require such a foolish escalation of violence in the Middle East. There should be no doubt that our security interests are best served by completely staying out of the internal strife now raging in Syria.

We are already too much involved in supporting the forces within Syria anxious to overthrow the current government. Without outside interference, the strife—now characterized as a civil war—would likely be non-existent.

Whether or not we attack yet another country, occupying it and setting up a new regime that we hope we can control poses a serious Constitutional question: From where does a president get such authority?

Since World War II the proper authority to go to war has been ignored. It has been replaced by international entities like the United Nations and NATO, or the President himself, while ignoring the Congress. And sadly, the people don’t object.

Our recent presidents explicitly maintain that the authority to go to war is not the U.S. Congress. This has been the case since 1950 when we were taken into war in Korea under UN Resolution and without Congressional approval.

And once again, we are about to engage in military action against Syria and at the same time irresponsibly reactivating the Cold War with Russia. We’re now engaged in a game of “chicken” with Russia which presents a much greater threat to our security than does Syria.

How would we tolerate Russia in Mexico demanding a humanitarian solution to the violence on the U.S.-Mexican border? We would consider that a legitimate concern for us. But, for us to be engaged in Syria, where the Russian have a legal naval base, is equivalent to the Russians being in our backyard in Mexico.

We are hypocritical when we condemn Russian for protecting their neighborhood interests for exactly what we have been doing ourselves, thousands of miles away from our shores. There’s no benefit for us to be picking sides, secretly providing assistance and encouraging civil strife in an effort to effect regime change in Syria.

Falsely charging the Russians with supplying military helicopters to Assad is an unnecessary provocation. Falsely blaming the Assad government for a so-called massacre perpetrated by a violent warring rebel faction is nothing more than war propaganda.

Most knowledgeable people now recognize that the planned war against Syria is merely the next step to take on the Iranian government, something the neo-cons openly admit.

Controlling Iranian oil, just as we have done in Saudi Arabia and are attempting to do in Iraq, is the real goal of the neo-conservatives who have been in charge of our foreign policy for the past couple of decades.

War is inevitable without a significant change in our foreign policy, and soon. Disagreements between our two political parties are minor. Both agree the sequestration of any war funds must be canceled. Neither side wants to abandon our aggressive and growing presence in the Middle East and South Asia.

This crisis building can easily get out of control and become a much bigger war than just another routine occupation and regime change that the American people have grown to accept or ignore.

It’s time the United States tried a policy of diplomacy, seeking peace, trade, and friendship. We must abandon our military effort to promote and secure an American empire.

Besides, we’re broke, we can’t afford it, and worst of all, we’re fulfilling the strategy laid out by Osama bin Laden whose goal had always been to bog us down in the Middle East and bring on our bankruptcy here at home.

It’s time to bring our troops home and establish a non-interventionist foreign policy, which is the only road to peace and prosperity.

This week I am introducing legislation to prohibit the Administration, absent a declaration of war by Congress, from supporting — directly or indirectly — any military or paramilitary operations in Syria. I hope my colleagues will join me in this effort.

Video: Humor: Clarke and Dawe on the Bernanke-Speak

ABC New's Clarke and Dawe hilariously deciphers US Federal Reserve Chairman's Ben Bernanke's statements (hat tip Gary North)

Video: Ashton Kutcher Gives Good Advice

It's rare to see celebrities offer profound insights. But American actor Ashton Kutcher seems an exception, as shown by his talk at the the Teen Choice Awards.

The background from screaming groupies, who seem hardly listening, have partly muted Mr. Kutcher's talk (hat tip Professor David Henderson), so you have to turn on the volume

Video: James Buchanan on the Myth of Public Interest

Nobel prize winner in economics and public choice theorist James M. Buchanan offers his terse explanation on why--what populist politics perceives as "public interest" is a myth (hat tip Cafe Hayek)

There is certainly no measurable concept that’s meaningful that should be called the public interest. Because how do you weigh different interests of different groups and what they can get out of it? 

The public interest as a politician thinks, it does not mean it exist but what he thinks is good for the country… And to come out and say that, that’s one thing…but behind the hypocrisy of calling something THE public interest that doesn’t exist—that was what I was trying to tell them

Video: F.A. Hayek, on Milton Friedman, Monetarism and Monetary Policy

In the following video interview, the great F. A. Hayek talked about Milton Friedman, macroeconomics, monetarism, monetary policies, knowledge problem and currency competition. (hat tip Cafe Hayek)

Notable quotes:

Statistics offer you a no substitute for the detailed knowledge of every single price relations to each other which really guide economic activities. That's a mistaken attempt to overcome our limited knowledge. (2:08) 

No government is capable of politically or intellectually providing the exact of amount of money which is needed for economic development (2:55) 

Abolishing the government monopoly to issue money would deprive government of the possibility of pursuing monetary policy. That's what I want (4:40)

Video: How the Dismal Science Got Its Name

In the following video, Marginal Revolution University's Professor Alex Tabarrok explains of the origins of the derogatory allusion of economics as "dismal science"

(hat tip Prof Don Boudreaux)

Video: Should the Government Subsidize...Silly Walks?

At the Learn Liberty, Professor Art Carden talks about the essence of government subsidies

Video: In 1984 The Prescient Ron Paul Warned of US Government Computer Surveillance

Something special with 1984? 1984 was the title of George Orwell's classic book about big brother dystopia.

In 1984, a video of Ron Paul's speech at the US house of representatives admonished of the use of computer or electronic surveillance by US government to attack on civil liberties. 

The latest whistleblowing of former insider Edward Snowden on the massive NSA spying serves as a validation of Ron Paul (hat tip Zero Hedge)

Video: Ron Paul: NSA Seizing Phone Records Symptom of Failure of The State

Former Congressman Ron Paul interviewed by Fox's Neil Cavuto on the intensifying spying by the US government on her constituencies.

Austrian economist Gary North on the public's backlash from the fast expanding Orwellian Big Brother state (hat tip Bob Wenzel) (bold original)

This will in no way reverse the process. The cost of monitoring everyone continues to fall. Economics teaches that when the price of anything falls, more is demanded.

Only one thing can reverse this: budget cuts for the offending agencies. Congress never imposes budget cuts, especially on the NSA (No Such Agency).

Most voters know that this invasion of their privacy is illegitimate. They also know that Congress will do nothing about it. It will hold hearings — maybe even closed-door hearings. But nothing will change.

Nevertheless, headlines like these are always positive. They help lower the public’s assessment of the federal government’s legitimacy. Ultimately, civil government is about power, but legitimacy increases voluntary compliance by the public. Every time the government loses a little legitimacy, it’s positive.

Video: Median Voter Theorem: Why politicians sound the same

The following video from learnliberty.org explains why politicians sound almost the same. (hat tip Cafe Hayek)

Via the median voter theorem, the general tendency of political rhetoric have been geared towards the “outcome most preferred by the median vote” or telling the median voters what they want to hear in order to gain their votes or approval.

In other words, political rhetoric panders to the economically ignorant populist "madlang people" irrational voters

Video: Peter Schiff on the Solid Gold 'Chocolate Bar'

The Valcambi Suisse refinery introduces the Valcambi CombiBar 50-gram “chocolate bar” which can be broken into individual 1-gram gold bars. 

In short, pocket sized gold bars. 

Peter Schiff claims that its all the rage in Europe, in the following video (hat tip Lew Rockwell.com) 

Important disclosure: I have no business relationship with Peter Schiff as of this writing. 

I share this video with the purpose of informing my readers of the innovative trends in gold products. 

If pocket size gold bars become widespread or become available in Asia, I may be one of their buyer.

Video: Fiat Money End Game, Gold and Sound Money

Global central banks have been pushing inflationism to the limits. 

Unless curtailed, the ultimate result will be massive cascading debt defaults across the world that leads to deflation or to hyperinflaton or the terminal phase of today's paper money standard or to a combo of run-away inflation amidst defaults.

I call this the Mises Moment. From the admonitions of the great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises:

But the boom cannot continue indefinitely. There are two alternatives. Either the banks continue the credit expansion without restriction and thus cause constantly mounting price increases and an ever-growing orgy of speculation, which, as in all other cases of unlimited inflation, ends in a “crack-up boom” and in a collapse of the money and credit system. Or the banks stop before this point is reached, voluntarily renounce further credit expansion and thus bring about the crisis. The depression follows in both instances.

(hat tip Zero Hedge)

Video: Designing Confidence: How 3D Printing Improves on Prosthetic design

The following video features the the innovative work of Scott Summit in using 3D Printing and digital scanning technology to greatly improve Prosthetic design. (hat tip Professor Mark Perry)

Video: Peter Schiff: This time it is different, it will be a lot worse

This time is different, it will be a lot worse, says Peter Schiff speaking at the 2013 Las Vegas MoneyShow. 

Mr Schiff's talk covers a wide range of interrelated topics from today's deja vu of 2006 in terms of steroid induced market euphoria, the bond market ponzi scheme, the Fed exit's bluff, manipulation of price inflation and growth statistics, runaway inflation and hyperinflation and the gold bubble (a bubble which ironically hardly anybody from Wall Street owns). (hat tip Lewrockwell.com)

Video: Bill Fleckenstein on How Abenomics Could Blow Up the US and the World

The legendary investor and contrarian writer for MSN Money, Bill Fleckenstein interviewed by Yahoo.

A snippet of the interview transcript:

On Japan:

What is going on in Japan is potentially very, very dangerous not just for Japan but for world markets. And, I’m not speaking about the Nikkei. What has taken place in the Japanese JGB [Japanese government bond] is extraordinary. In the last three days, the yield has gone from 60 basis points to 86. Can you imagine what would happen in America if yields on 10-year Treasuries went from 6% to 8.6%?

There are huge derivative books in Japan where there’s been tremendous amount of derivatives written assuming that rates would stay low forever. I think this could be on the verge of blowing up. This may be the start of it, this may get quiet, or it may get ugly right now. That will impact the American bond market and it will affect equities everywhere. So, it’s potentially dangerous.

Read the rest at Yahoo.com

Election Promises are Mostly About Spending Other People’s Money

To all the voters out there. Be reminded that there is nothing called as a “free lunch”. Every scarce resources expended or consumed will have to be worked and paid for. What always seems free, someone will have to shoulder the cost.

Elections have mostly been predicated on promises, particularly noble sounding promises backed by the spending of other people’s money.

It’s important for the public to know and understand of the behavioral difference of how money is spent.

The distinguished free market economist Milton Friedman explains in the following video

Yet the easiest thing to do is to spend other’s peoples money. That's the expertise of political agents. But there will always be a price paid for this.

The following quote from the legendary investor Jim Rogers on the Fed’s policies embodies such dynamic:

If You Give Me A Trillion Dollars I'll Show You A Good Time